Amstel Gold Race & Liège-Bastogne-Liège Week

PROGRAM

Friday: pick-up at Brussels airport or Liège TGV station.

Today someone from our organization will meet you in Brussels airport or Liege train station and escort you to our vehicle and take you to our accommodation at Spa where we will spend the next 10 nights.

The first job will be to assemble your bike and the Go4Cycling staff will be ready if you have mechanical problems or need other help. Then we will leave for a short ride to explore the area around where we are staying.

Tonight a welcome dinner will be provided in the hotel dining room. There the tour guides will explain the entire route and present the program for the next ten days. They will also explain how we ride as a group, the pace, the organized city trips in the evening, and so on. This is a good opportunity to ask any questions, but of course also to get to know the people with whom you will spend your vacation.

Saturday: participation in the Tour version of the Amstel Gold Race

The Tour version of the Amstel Gold Race is one of the most popular rides on the amateur event calendar, with an annual enrollment of 12,000 riders (limited!). The six distances offered (60, 100, 125, 150, 200 and 250 kilometers) all start and finish in the village of Valkenburg, some 12 kilometers from Maastricht. The different routes appeal to a wide range of riders and fitness levels, and the sliding start times offer flexibility and ensure that the routes are easily passable for participants. Unique to this race is the beautiful surroundings. The province of Limburg in the Netherlands is a paradise for cycling enthusiasts. The rural surroundings, the often very steep, short climbs and the large height differences within a few kilometers, make the Limburg hills a real challenge. We are also only a few kilometers away from Vaals. This town is known as the place where the borders of three countries meet, giving the summit the name “Drielandenpunt.” The countries that touch are the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

Sunday: watching the Amstel Gold Race in VIP style

The first Amstel Gold Race took place on April 30, 1966, Queen’s Day for the Dutch. The first start was in Breda. To reduce the distance to the hills in Limburg, the start was moved first to Helmond, then to Heerlen and finally to Maastricht, where the race has been starting for several years. The course has changed many times over the years. In 2005, the race took place almost entirely within the borders of the province of Limburg, but there have also been editions that covered significant parts of Belgium. Since 2003, the finish is at the top of the Cauberg, in the municipality of Valkenburg. Prior to 2003, the finish was in Maastricht.

The race is tough and selective, mainly because of the 31 hills that must be climbed, some with gradients of up to 20% (Keutenberg). The Amstel can be confusing for riders entering it for the first time, as the course has many turns. Some places are visited more than once during the race.

Monday: riding to Han sur Lesse

Today we will ride through the heart of the Ardennes and arrive in Han sur Lesse. Here we will visit the Caves of Han-sur-Lesse. These caves are the result of the underground erosion of a limestone hill near the river Lesse. The river makes its way under the hill over a straight line of more than a kilometer. The caves have a constant temperature of 13°C and high humidity. Access is only possible via an old streetcar, a remnant of the country’s once extensive streetcar system, which departs from the center of Han-sur-Lesse. Access to the caves is about 2 km from the village. The tour lasts about an hour to an hour and a half and includes a sound and light show in one of the cave’s largest rooms and a short boat ride that ends with a cannon shot to demonstrate the cave’s acoustic properties.

Tuesday: the finale of the “Flèche Wallone” ride

Today we test our strength and endurance and ride part of the hilly course of the Flèche Wallonne with an extreme gradient of about 20%, the final climb of the “Mur de Huy.” We will start our ride at the top of the “Mur de Huy” for the finale of the race. A loop with 8 climbs awaits us. Then we will visit the castle of Genoels-Elderen, a village near Tongeren, the oldest city in Belgium and built by the Romans. This “castle” is the only wine castle in Belgium, not surprising since the first vineyards in this region were planted by the Romans. A guide shows us the park, the vineyards, the famous rose garden, the distillery, the wine press and the 13th-century wine cellars, followed by a tasting of these delicious wines.

Wednesday, April 18: viewing the Flèche Wallone in VIP style.

Today we travel to Huy to attend the start of the women’s race of the Flèche Wallonne in Huy. These women will ride the final loop of the men’s course which also ends at the top of the “Mur de Huy.”

We will spend the day in Huy enjoying the races, seeing the men’s and women’s race several times on the Mur de Huy. During the race, we can watch the race on a big screen close to the finish line.

Thursday, April 19: cycling in Haspengouw

Today we will take an easy ride from our hotel on quiet rural roads in the Haspengouw region, along the stream valleys of Burdinale and Mehaigne, where we will see the castles of Fernelmont and Franc-Warêt, both real architectural gems. Halfway, we stop for lunch and a nice Belgian beer. Those who want can take the bus back to the hotel, others can finish the ride.

Friday: visit to Liege

In the morning we take a small relaxing ride and in the afternoon we visit the surroundings of Liege. First we visit the crystal factory of Val Saint Lambert. In 1826, smoke came out of the chimneys of the abbey of Seraing, a town near Liège. The launch of the Val Saint Lambert crystal factory was a historic event. It soon became the epicenter of the Belgian crystal industry, which had heyday in its history but also hard times due to the two World Wars. Now the Onclin family owns the industrial site and wants to put it back on the world map. Be surprised and see how this beautiful work of art is made, from heating the sand to polishing the crystal. We will spend the late afternoon and evening in Liege, “La Cité Ardente,” “The Burning City.” Liege is a large Walloon city and municipality in Belgium, located in the province that bears its name and of which it is the administrative capital. It is located in the valley of the Meuse River near Belgium’s eastern border with the Netherlands and Germany, where the Ourthe River flows into the Meuse. The city is the main economic and cultural center of the Walloon provinces in Belgium. The city’s agglomeration, with a population ranging from 476,000 to more than 600,000, depending on where one would place the boundaries, is the third largest in Belgium, after the agglomerations of Brussels and Antwerp. If you like local specialties, you can’t leave the city without tasting a sweet Liege Gaufre.

Saturday: cyclo Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Dutch name for Liège-Bastogne-Liège, is one of the highlights of every cycling season. Professional cyclists describe it as the most beautiful but also the most difficult race. Since recent years, you can also participate in the cyclo version that includes the main hills. We ride around in one of the most beautiful landscapes of the Belgian Ardennes.

Sunday: Watching Liège-Bastogne-Liège in VIP style

Brief history of Liège-Bastogne-Liège:

Liège-Bastogne-Liège, often called La Doyenne (“the oldest”) in French, is one of the five “Monuments” of the European professional road cycling calendar. Liège-Bastogne-Liège is part of the UCI World Calendar and is part of the Belgian Ardennes Classics series, which also includes the Flèche Wallonne. Both are organized by Amaury Sport Organization. Once upon a time, the Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège were run on consecutive days as le Week-end Ardennais. Only seven riders have achieved the Ardennes double by winning both in the same year: Swiss Ferdi Kübler even twice (in 1951 and 1952), Belgians Stan Ockers (1955), Eddy Merckx (1972) and Philippe Gilbert (2011), Italians Moreno Argentin (1991) and Davide Rebellin (2004) and Spaniard Alejandro Valverde also twice (2006 and 2015). The race has been hit by severe weather conditions in several editions. In 1919, 1957 and 1980 there were tough conditions with low temperatures and snow. Two riders shared the win in 1957. Germain Derijcke crossed the line first, but because he rode over a closed railroad crossing, the second-placed rider, Frans Schoubben, was also promoted to first place. Derijcke was not disqualified because he had won with a three-minute lead, so the jury found that he had not taken advantage of illegally crossing the closed railroad crossing. The 1980 edition is memorable because of the snow that besieged the race from the start and was called neige-Bastogne-neige by commentators. Bernard Hinault attacked with 80 km to go and finished almost 10 minutes ahead.

Our program for today:
Today we go to the start of the race at the Place Saint-Lambert in Liège. After the start we will watch the race at several places on the course.

Monday: A farewell to Go4Cycling.

The trip ends and we go our separate ways. Maybe we’ll see you again on another trip. We will have a bus available to take people to the airport during the day.